Members of the Lincoln Serra Club are Catholic men who are active in their parish and committed to promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
> FIRST FRIDAY MEETING
The first Friday meeting holds a Mass followed by a lunch.
> THIRD FRIDAY MEETING
Members gather for lunch and a speaker who talks about some aspect of the Catholic faith. The goal of the meetings is to create an opportunity for spiritual growth and fellowship.
SEE PAST SPEAKERS
Are you called to be a Serran?
The Lincoln Serra Club is very active in the Catholic community, focusing on supporting new and existing vocations to the priesthood and religious life. The following are a few of the long-time programs the Serra Club has sponsored for the Diocese:
Host the ordination receptions at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ.
Host an annual dinner for seminarians at St. Gregory the Great Seminary.
Host the graduation and reception for graduates, families and guests at St. Gregory the Great Seminary.
Host an annual golf outing for all Diocesan priests.
Conduct an essay contest on vocations at all Lincoln Catholic elementary schools. The club awards a scholarship to Pius X High School to the top three essays.
Host an annual dinner for seminarians and their parents.
Host an annual appreciation dinner for all Diocesan religious communities.
Host a luncheon for retired Diocesan priests.
Host a summer outing and barbecue for seminarians.
Annual Seminarians & Parents Appreciation Banquet 2025
Serran’s Annual Seminarians & Parents Appreciation Banquet with about 120 in attendance at the Embassy Suites. President Scott Yates welcomed all and explained the Serra Club Mission. He also shared that he attended this banquet for 5 years as a Seminarian himself! Fr. Kane announced the St. Gregory the Great Seminary will have nearly 50 Seminarians this fall and he then gave the invocation. Seminarian
Colter Fulton gave an inspiring talk on behalf of the other Seminarians and thanked the Serrans for their support and prayers. Fr. Sasse gave a very special address about how the Seminarians and their parents are people. They have bothers and sisters. He asked for prayers for not only the seminarians, but also their parents, siblings, and the priests involved with their formation. He announced that this year’s Propadudic Year has 9 from the Diocese of Lincoln, 4 from the Archdiocese of Omaha, and a total of 23!
Bishop Conley gave remarks and that the Serra Club of Lincoln is very much looked up to nationally. He thanked the Serra Club for everything they do for the seminarians as well as the Religious Sisters. He announced the the Marian Sisters have a new postulate and the Christ the King Sisters have two new postulates! Bishop then gave his final blessing.
Priests Appreciation Dinner with Serrans at the Hidden Valley Golf Club House
Past Speakers and Meeting Highlights
June 21, 2024
3rd Friday Speaker – Joy Martin
Joy Martin, president of the Lincoln Curia of the Legion of Mary, spoke at our
3rd Friday Meeting on June 21, 2024
The Legion of Mary: An Apostolic Association Under Mary Immaculate is a lay, apostolic association within the Catholic Church, dedicated to serving under the leadership of Mary Immaculate, Mediatrix of All Graces. Its members form a spiritual army engaged in the Church’s perpetual battle against worldly evils.
May 17, 2024
Tour at Calvary Catholic Cemetery
Monsignor Timothy Thorburn explained the history of Calvary Catholic Cemetery. It was the parish cemetery for the first Catholic Church in Lincoln, which was St. Theresa’s before the Lincoln Diocese was formed in 1867. This church was at the corner of 13th and M Streets and was the “Proto-Cathedral” when the Diocese was started. Bishop Bonacum, the first bishop of Lincoln, consecrated the cemetery. In 1930 the cemetery was turned over to the Calvary Cemetery Association.
Monsignor celebrates Mass every Friday during the week at 12:15 PM for the Poor Souls in Purgatory whose remains are in the cemetery.
April 19, 2024 – Essay Winners
Pictured Left to Right (all from St. Teresa Catholic School): – Annie Brox – 3rd place
($250 scholarship)
– Sister Mary Michael (Principal)
– Eleanor Pfeiffer – 2nd ($500 scholarship)
– Mrs. Kelly Pokojski (Teaches 8th Grade Religion and Art)
– Maddie Schinstock – 1st ($1,000 scholarship)
– Mrs. Brinnany Kudron (Teaches 8th Grade English)
Scholarships awarded are to St. Pius X Catholic High School
March 15, 2024
3rd Friday Speaker – Bishop Robert Finn
Bishop Robert Finn, chaplain of the School Sisters of Christ the King Convent, explained that in 2006, when he was a new Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Sister Wilhelmina asked him if she could move her convent, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, to his diocese. He asked what their vocation was. She said to pray for the sanctification of his priests. He welcomed them to come to his diocese. There were 14 sisters when they moved to the diocese. Sister Wilhelmina was the Foundress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles.
Sister Wilhelmina died at the age of 95 and was not embalmed, placed in plain wooden coffin, buried in a shallow grave on May 30, 2019. Her coffin was dug up on the feast day of St. Louis de Montfort in May 2023 so her remains could be re-interred in their church. The sisters expected to find bones but discovered that their foundress’ remains, including her religious habit, were almost perfectly intact.
November 17, 2023
3rd Friday Speaker – Dennis Kellogg
Dennis Kellogg is the Director of Communication for the Diocese of Lincoln. His in charge of all internal and external communications within the diocese. He works with Schools and Parishes with their websites, crisis management, and legal issues. He supervises all media, the weekly TV Masses in Lincoln and Hastings, Facebook Pages, YouTube Channel, and print media like the Southern Nebraska Register.
Before joining the staff for the Lincoln Diocese in July of 2022, Dennis worked for 35 years in broadcast journalism, most recently as news director of Nebraska Public Media.
Dennis has a master’s degree from Syracuse University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton.
Dennis and his wife Jennifer are members of St. Peter Parish in Lincoln. They have three adult children and eight grandchildren.
October 20, 2023
3rd Friday Speaker – Anders Peterson
Anders Peterson is the team leader for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this year and has 6 women and 5 men on his team. Anders has been assigned to the UNL campus for 5 years now. He is from a small town of Canton, SD which is 20 minutes South of Sioux Falls, SD. He graduated from Iowa State University and was a member of a fraternity. As a sophomore, he like 70% of college students, was lonely or very lonely. He would walk past the Newman Center on campus every day and something drew him to stop in one day. There was so much hope and joy with students there that drew him into wanting to return. His junior year he was asked if he wanted to attend a bible study and he did. By the time he was a senior he took RCIA and joined the Catholic faith in 2018. So including this year, he has been a Catholic starting on his 6th year.
Deacon Ordinations on May 23, 2025
Patrick Burke
Deacon Patrick Burke is a permanent deacon assigned to St Wenceslaus and prison ministry at Saunders County Correctional Facility.
Peter Foley
Deacon Peter Foley is also a transitional deacon and was assigned to North American Martyrs for the summer.
Brad Moss
Deacon Brad Moss is a transitional deacon and was assigned to Nebraska City’s St. Mary’s for the summer.
Special Mass and Meal with Marian Sisters
The Marian Sisters hosted a special Mass and then brunch in their dining room on August 25, 2024. The special guests were Scott and Michaela Miller, owners of Forest Lake Landscaping who did the block wall behind the Convent.
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- Scott and Michaela Miller, owners of Forest Lake Landscaping, with Mgr. John Perkinton, Chaplain for the Marian Sisters, Mother Anne Marie Zierke, Jim and Carol Wathen.
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- John Soukup, president of Serra Club of Lincoln, thanked the Marian Sisters and introduced the speak guests attending.
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- Serra Club member Craig Buescher and one of main organizer for this project asked a dear friend and Marian Sister to make Kolaches for this event. He presented to Sr. Rosalind Herbeck with a handmade plaque for being Queen of the Marian Kolaches!
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- Mother Anne Marie Zierke gave the Serrians and the Millers a tour of the Cemetery that is just above the retaining wall.
INTRODUCTION OF NEWLY ORDAINED PRIESTS
3rd Friday Speakers
Serra Club Luncheon | Friday, July 19, 2024
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- Fr. Jonah Brox: Father Brox was born and raised in Lincoln. He attended St. Teresa School and Pius X High School. He entered St. Gregory the Great Seminary and later St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He is the assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Nebraska City and will be teaching at Lourdes Central Catholic School
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- Fr. Santiago Izquierdo (pronounced “Is-Ski-air-doe”): Father Izquierdo was born in Bogotá, Columbia, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 2002. They eventually settled in Lincoln where he attended St. Peter School and St. Pius X High School. After high school he attended UNL for two years as a chemistry major. He entered the seminary in the summer of 2016. Father is the assistant pastor at Sacred Heart Church, St. James Parish in Crete. He is part of the Hispanic Ministry.
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- Fr. Augustine Reimers: Father Reimers grew up in Seward. He attended St. Mary Elementary in David City and graduated from Aquinas Catholic High School. He entered the seminary after his senior year in high school. Father is assistant pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Lincoln and will be teaching at Pius X High School.
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- Fr. Mitchell Schleis (pronounced “Shlice”). Father Schleis grew up in Shelby. After high school, Father attended Briar Cliff University to study elementary education. After college, he taught sixth grade and coached high school cross country at St. Francis Catholic School in Humphrey. He entered the seminary in 2018. Father is assistant pastor at St. Teresa Church in Lincoln and will be teaching at Pius X High School.
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- Fr. Ranil Weerackoon (pronounced “We-ruh-cone”) was unable to be with us. He is from Cypress, California. He graduated from California State, Long Beach majoring in math. He came to UNL and received a master’s degree in sports statistics. He entered St. Gregory the Great seminary in the fall of 2018 and then entered Mt. St. Mary’s in the fall of 2020. Father is assistant pastor at St. Michael Church in Lincoln and will be teaching at Pius X High School.
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- Four of our Five our newly Ordained Priests gave a Priestly Blessing at the end of our meeting.
